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Monday, December 14, 2015

Do you know
what it is - going by its chemical data
which would read :

Formula -
C8H9NO2

Mol. Mass -
151.17 g/mol

Physical data

Density - 1.263 g/cm³

Melt. Point - 168 °C (334
°F) and is soluble in water.

Solubility in water :
12.78 [1] mg/mL (20 °C)

It is the one that
most of us with some little knowledge consider as a panacea for all illness. In
fact, in India there was a common brand called ‘Fepanil’ – which my Medical
representative friend told to mean as ‘fever pain nil’
- it is ‘Paracetamol’ – most
commonly bought over the counter drug used by adults and children as best
seller. Paracetamol is also known as
acetaminophen.

Paracetamol has been
in use as an analgesic for home medication for over 30 years and is perceived
to be effective treatment for the relief of pain and fever in adults and
children. Paracetamol is available in a tablet, capsule, liquid suspension,
suppository, intravenous, and intramuscular forms. The common adult dose is 500
mg to 1000 mg. The tablets are designed to dissolve or disintegrate rapidly
upon contact with saliva to eliminate trouble of digesting – this is ODT
(orally disintegrating tablet) property.
Some have the habit of swallowing without taking water which is not
advisable.

Paracetamol is
chemically 4-hydroxyacetanilide, is a centrally and peripherally acting
non-opioid analgesic and antipyretic.
Though some tend to supplement one with another, the following are some
of the brand names of the same drug, manufactured and marketed by different companies
in India. They are : Calpol,
Crocin, Cetanil, Cemol, Disprin, Dolo,
Febrex, Lotemp, Thermol, Taurpol,
Ultragin, Paxol, Pacimol, Metacin and much more……. There are many bulk manufacturers and other
product makers. Globally, Panadol is
the, GlaxoSmithKline trade name for the pharmaceutical paracetamol. In many countries, it is marketed under
various trade names which include : Crocin, Dolex, Panado, Tylenol, Acamol.

Though this is an OTC
- ‘medicines are safe only when prescribed and self-medication is often
dangerous’. Always believe your
Physician who is better qualified to diagnose and treat human health through
study. Leave the job to the specialists
is what they say………… now read this
article in Daily Mail today : Paracetamol for flu? It's
pointless, say New Zealand scientists: Popular drug neither reduces fever nor
aches and pains.

Contrary to
official NHS advice, the popular drug neither reduces fever nor other symptoms
like aches and pains. Paracetamol is a key ingredient in a host of cold and flu
remedies. But academics found no significant difference in body temperature
between 40 flu sufferers given paracetamol for five days and 40 given dummy
pills. Neither was there any difference in how ill people in each group felt.

The study by
New Zealand medics is the first ‘gold standard’ randomised controlled trial to
pit paracetamol against a placebo pill. Dr Irene Braithwaite, of the Medical
Research Institute of New Zealand, said: ‘We initially theorised that taking
paracetamol might be harmful, as the influenza virus cannot replicate as well
at higher temperatures and by reducing a person’s temperature the virus may
have thrived. 'Fortunately this was found not to be the case.’ Their concerns
were prompted by studies in animals exposed to flu, which showed that those
given paracetamol and other fever-controlling drugs were more likely to die
from the virus. Dr Braithwaite said: ‘In this study, paracetamol was not
harmful, but we also found that paracetamol was not beneficial either.’

Official
advice on the NHS Choices website recommends people with flu take paracetamol. It
states: ‘If you feel unwell and have a fever, you can take paracetamol or
anti-inflammatory medicines such as ibuprofen to lower your temperature and
relieve aches.’ But the study, published in the medical journal Respirology,
concludes: ‘Despite recommendations to administer paracetamol for symptom
relief in influenza and influenza-like illnesses, this study has found that
regular administration of paracetamol has no effect on viral or clinical
outcomes in this setting.’

Dr Tim
Ballard, vice-chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: ‘This is just one
study – there will be many others that suggest paracetamol is a very effective
drug at easing pain and controlling fevers in our patients and, as long as it
is taken as recommended, this is backed up with what we find with our patients
suffering from flu. ‘However, this is something to be watched with interest and
it would be particularly fascinating to see a similar study looking into
treating children, where the placebo effect would be more difficult to
explain.’

4 comments:

Man flu is a interested situation that can take various types, and - uncommonly for an sickness - tends to be more devastating for those around the victim than for the victim himself. Like many flu sufferers

Which is undeniably important but hard to express if you cannot talk or cannot recall what you had for breakfast this morning. In which case I want you to know that I see you. Right here and now, not what you do or who you were or who the world wishes you could still be. Canadian Pharmacy